Key case



Oct. 16, 1928.

w. H. WEISSBROD KEY CASE Filed Jan. 18, 1927 {NVENTOR ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 16, 1928.

UNITED fhWILLIS 11. wEIssBRon, 0F qnnenrrnnn, MAssecnUsnT'rs.

KEY CASE.

Applieation filed January 18, 1327. Serial No. 161,740.

My invention relates to improvements in containers or cases for receiving and holding keys and the like, and consists essentially a strip of flexible material, such as leather, folded or made to be folded so that the end portions of said strip overlap the central or intermediate portion, thereby forming an enclosing member or element, a perforated reenforci'ng sheet attached to said intermediate portion to stifien the same and serve as'a di-.

rect support for other parts and members, and preferably forming with said intermediate portion a pocket which opens at one lone gitudinal edge, a plurality of key -holding or supportingelements consisting in part of or including closed rings receivable in the per? forations in said sheet, and a thong of peculiar construction passed through said rings,

behind said sheet, and fastened to the latter, together with such other parts and members as may be necessary or desirable in order to render the case complete and seryiceable in every respect, "all as hereinafter set forth.

The primary object of myinvention is to produce a case, of the class described, that is simple and comparatively inexpensive in con structiomyet convenient, durable, tlezgible, reg liable, and withal highly practical and efli- Icient.

Figure 1 s a front elevation of a key case which embodies a practical form of my in-' vention, the flaps being open; Fig. 2, a rear elevationof t'he'reenforcing sheet with the rings attachedthereto bythe thong and beforethe ends of the latter are out off, and, Fig. 3, an enlarged sectional detail of certain of the new structural features Similar referencecharacters designate siniilar parts throughout the several Views.

In the first view one of the swivel snap hooks is omitted to disclose thepeculiar per for'ation provided the reenforoing sheet to receive the ring by means of which the eye of each hook s supported from and in the case. In this yiew, also, a portion of the reenforcing sheet is broken out in ordermore clearly to emphasize the fact that there is a pocket between the intermediate portion or ba k of the strip forming the case proper and said sheet.

This key case comprises a strip of flexible material divided by'two vert cal creases or bending portions, indicated at 1 1, into a back andflaps 3 4, the two latter being respectively provided with male female was Med 6 Q a s a e f ne a re n om ing sheet? attached to said back, preferably in such a manner as to form with said back a pocket indicated the arrow in Fig. 1; a plurality of rings ,8 from which depend swivel snap hooks 9, therebeing six of saidy rings in the presente ample, but there maybe more or less than thatnumber; and a thong 10 by means ofwhich said rings are held in 7 place in said 3.

' The flap 3 is adapted be folded ,over onto the front of the sheet 7 and the rings 8 and hooks 9, and over the carried by'said hooks, and the flap 4 is adaptedto be folded over onto the outside of said first-named flap, when the female member 6 is snapped into engagement with the male member 5 thus enclosing the contents of the'case and securing the flaps in closed position: Upon disengaging the fastening members and ,opening the flaps access is had to the contents of the case. structurally and functionally these folding parts and their fastening members are not unlikecorresponding parts and fasteners in other key cases, and may be varied to a considerable extent. a

The reenforcing sheet is a stiffening strip of flexible material, such as is commonly used in key-case construction, andis placed against the inner face of the back 2 and secured to said back by lines of stitching, of whichfurther mention willbe made hereinafter. ()ne vertical edge of the sl 1eet'7,,throi1ghout the greater'portion of its lengtl 1,-;is leftunsecured to the back2 to provide an entrance to the space-between said back and sheet, and

th s make of said spabea pocket thatfis ac cessible from theoutside. Preferably itis the right-hand edge of the sheet 7 that is left free to provide theentranceto the pocket.

' The hooks 9 are of the'ordinary snap and swivel type, and each has at the upper end an eye 11 with-whichis engaged one dfthe rings 8. The present construction enables therings 8 to be attached to the sheet"? after said rings have been attached to the eyes 11, which is an advantage because thehook units can be made up complete initially, and then with the lit-- most facility mounted in place as elements of. the case. To this end the sheet 7. has sets of upper and under holes l2-connected by slits 18 punched therein, and thetongue 10 is pro videdlf p This casebeing'd'esigned to'in'cludesi'x books 9, thereinust'be a-correspo'nding nuin'- her or sets of holes 12 and slits 13. These are located side'by side in the sheet 7 near. the up peredge'thereof, and in each set are twoholes 12, one above-the other, anda vertical coir necting slit 13, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

- Each'ring 8," with the eye 11 of one of the hooks '9 attached thereto, is pushed through one of the slits 13 until a portion of said ring is behind the sheet 7', and portions of said ring are inthe holes 12 atthe" top and bottoni of said slit. After the ring has been pushed through theslit the edges of said slit come to gether again inside of the ring) The'rings 8 are placed in position and secured by the i thong lObefoie the sheet 7is stitched to the backs. The-thong- 10 is made of'flexible'niater'ia'l that can be stitched, and initially said thong is longer thanthe sheet? is wide. The intermediate portion of the thong 10 is of a length and width that. enables it to be located i in those portions, of all of therings8, which are behindjthe sheet 7, while the end portions of said thong are Wider or project beyond both longitudinal edges of saidintermediate portion, such wide parts being respectively designated by the-numerals Hand 15. Thus thereis ahead a't each end of the thong. Preferably one of these heads, as'l5, has the shape of'an'arrow'head. u a @After the rings have been inserted in the 1 perforations in thesheet 7 thethong 10, with the head-15 leading, is thrust through said rings beliiiidfsaid sheet, until the narrow intermediate portion'of the thong is located in all of the rings. Next both" headsl l and '15 are stitched, as represented at 16, to'the sheet posite-tojthat where v entrance to the pocket is; had,falso'- an additional line ofstitching 17 below tli'eithong'lO, and a short vertical line of stitching 19 adjacent-to the edge of the sheet that forms the pocket entrance. This entrance is "below the second line of stitching '17 from'thetop. The' thong'lOis'thus ver firnily and' securely fastened in place at the rings ends, the lines o'flstitching 16fastening the heads 14 and 15 to the sheet 7, and the lines of stitching 18 and 19 fastening SitlClllGftClS again to saidsheet and also tothe back 2 and in hence'the rings have a certain amount of lateral play or swinging movement, I Inasmuch as the part of thetl 'ong 10 that directly engages the rings 8 must be eoinpaia t-ively narrow,'the same wouldnotbewide enough'to stitch to the sheet 7 and to-the back 2 or,-in any event, to stitch thereto to theeX- tent required for security, without providing heads to receive the stitching, and heads of suflicient width to afford when stitched inplace the necessary areas of directly and1ntiniately attached surfaces and parts. If it were possible to take only a few stitches in the thong at each terminal, they would be liable quickly to pull vout,'whei1said thong sooner or later- Would be pulled out through one of the perforations in the reenforc ng sheet, and the usefulness of the key case would be at'an end, g f" i By initiallyproviding the thong 10 at one end with'a pointed or arrow-liead shaped head, and using this head with 'which'to thread the thong through the. rings 8, such threading operation is greatly facilitated and expedited, even, though it is necessary at thist'nne to fold. said head longitudinally to some extent while pushing it through said Keys are engaged with the hooks 9 in similar manner as keys are engaged with the hooks of other cases, and this key case as a whole is used in practically the same way as are others. 7 V Each hook 9 is swiveled to itsjeye l1 and said eye is loosely therefore free to rotate, held by the ring 8 above, certain amount of lfl'tQTPtl 11'lOVel118I1t- 51S hereinhefore explained, consequently a key attached to said hook is capable of being turned about in. almost any direction without being mpeded by the case,'wh1ch is an mportant factor-1n a devicje'of this character. j v I More or less change in the shape,s1ze, construction, and arrangement of seine'or all of the parts of this key case, in addition to those and said ring has a hereinbefore specifically pointed out, inay be i made, without departing from the spirit of my invention or exceeding the: scope o-fwhat isclairned. i f lVhat Iclaiin as my invention, and desire to secure'by Letters Patent, is

1. In a keycase, a back, a perforated ie rated reenforcing sheet attached to said back,

rings receivable in the perforations in said sheet, a straight thong receivable in the portions of said rings that are behind said sheet, said thong being longer than the Width of said sheet to facilitate fastening it thereto,

and having end portions Wider than the intermediate portion'of said thong to afford sufiicient fastening areas, with one such end portion arrow-head shaped to facilitate threading the thong through the rings, and means to secure said end portions to the sheet, the parts of the end portions that project beyond the sheet being cut off after the fastenin g operation.

3. A key case comprising a back, a perfoe rated reenforcing sheet attached to said back,

rings receivable in the perforations in said sheet, a straight thong passing through said rings behind said sheet, said thong having an intermediate portion With parallel edges which is the portion that passes through the rings, and end portions beyond said rings that areWider than said intermediate portion, with one such end portion arrow-head shaped to facilitate threading the thong through the rings, and said thong being longer than theWidth of said sheet, and securing means for said end portions, any part ofsaid thong that projects beyond the sheet being cut off after the thong is fastened to the sheet.

i. In a key case, a back, a reenforcing sheet attached to said back, said sheet having therein sets of holes connected by slits, said holes in each pair having continuous edges except Where they open into the connecting slit, rings adapted to be forced through said slits and to be received in said holes, a retaining member passing through said rings behind said sheet, and means to secure said retaining member in place.

5. A key case comprising a back, a perforated reenforcing sheet adapted to be stitched to said back, rings receivable in the perforations in said sheet, and a thong receivable in the portions of said rings that are behind said sheet, when the rings are in place, said thong being longer than the Width of said sheet, and having end portions wider than the intermediate portion of said thong, with one such end portion arrow-head shaped to facilitate threading the thong through the rings, and said end portions being adapted to be fastened to said sheet by stitches passing through the end portions as Well as through the sheet, and then to have the parts thereof that project beyond the sheet cutoff.

WVILLIS H. lVEISSBROD. 

